GREENSBORO, N.C. (9-22-11) — Guilford College will recognize three former student-athletes and one team as the 40th class inducted into its Athletics Hall of Fame Saturday, Oct. 8. Dave Brown ’98 of Rougemont, N.C., Charlie Harrison ’71 of Atlantic Beach, N.C., Chris Jenkins ’89 of Beaufort, S.C., and the Quakers’ 1980-81 women’s tennis team are this year’s inductees.
The group will be formally inducted at an 11:30 a.m. ceremony in Guilford’s Dana Auditorium and honored prior to the start of the Quakers’ Homecoming football game versus Southern Virginia University later that afternoon. The ceremony is free and open to the public.
Brown is arguably the finest men’s lacrosse player in Guilford history. The 1998 graduate scored 213 goals and 302 points, both school records, from 1989-92. He scored at least one goal in each of his 60 career games, had three seasons with 50 goals or more and scored an Old Dominion Athletic Conference record 96 points as a senior. The Chapel Hill, N.C., native earned honorable mention All-America honors from the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association in 1992. Brown is believed to be the first North Carolina native so honored. He continued playing on the club lacrosse circuit after Guilford and served as a Quakers’ assistant coach from 1996-97. Brown earned the U.S. Lacrosse Men’s Division Coaches Council North Carolina Assistant Coach of the Year Award in 2005 and volunteers at the Orange County Correctional Prison. Brown works as a digital artist and assistant lacrosse coach at Cedar Ridge High School.
Harrison served as manager and student athletic trainer for the Quakers’ men’s basketball teams under coach Jerry Steele. He parlayed his experience into a successful college and professional basketball coaching career. After earning his degree in biology from Guilford in 1971, Harrison went to Indiana University where he served as a graduate assistant coach on Bobby Knight’s team that finished third in the 1974 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament. After assistant coaching stints with Clemson University, the National Basketball Association’s Buffalo Braves and the University of Oklahoma, Harrison was named acting head coach at the University of New Mexico. He took the head men’s basketball coaching position at Iowa State University (1980-82) before moving to East Carolina University (1982-87), where he followed fellow Guilford Hall of Famer Dave Odom ’65. Harrison left coaching to found UTTS, an environmental services company he owned and operated for 13 years. He and his wife, Guiselle, reside in Atlantic Beach, N.C.
Jenkins is Guilford’s men’s soccer career leader in points (114) and assists (36). His 39 career goals stand second in school history. The two-time team captain earned National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) honorable mention All-America recognition in 1986 and 1988, was a three-time All-South selection, and participated in the 1989 NAIA Senior Bowl All-Star Game. The Quakers’ 1986 team placed second in the NAIA District 26 playoffs and achieved a number-20 ranking in the final NAIA poll, the highest in school history. Jenkins received Guilford’s 1987 Nereus C. English Athletic Leadership Award, the school’s highest athletic honor. After Guilford he served as assistant men’s soccer coach at the University of Pennsylvania. Jenkins continued coaching while teaching history and literature at private high schools in Florida and Virginia. For the past 10 years the Beaufort, S.C., resident has owned and operated ExeConnect Consulting, an executive search firm with Fortune 500 clients such as L’Oreal and BASF. He continues service as a youth soccer coach with the Beaufort Arsenal Football Club.
Guilford’s 1981 women’s tennis team captured a share of the NAIA national championship in the event’s inaugural year. The Quakers shared the top spot with Grand Canyon University after both schools finished with 27 points in the 23-team tournament in Overland Park, Kansas. Under the direction of NAIA National Co-Coach of the Year Gayle Currie, Guilford took the 1981 NAIA District 26 crown to earn the trip to nationals. The team was comprised of Lili Carpenter ‘84, Stacy Cook ‘83, Shirley Dunn ‘81, Sue Ireton ‘81, Kerry Kennedy ‘83, Leesa Shapiro and Tammy Strickland ‘84. The doubles tandems of Dunn and Ireton and Kennedy and Shapiro both advanced to the tournament semifinals. Dunn and Shapiro also reached the semifinals in the singles draw. Dunn, Ireton, Shapiro and Kennedy each earned All-America recognition, while Strickland was named honorable mention All-America. Currie and five team members (Carpenter, Dunn, Ireton, Kennedy, Strickland) have also been enshrined in Guilford’s Athletics Hall of Fame as individuals.
This year’s class raises Guilford’s Athletics Hall of Fame membership to 211 individuals. Past inductees include NBA stars M.L. Carr ’73, World B. Free ’76, and Bob Kauffman ’68, major-league baseball players Ernie Shore ’13, Rick Ferrell ’28, Tom Zachary ’18 and Tony Womack ’91, and professional golfer Lee Porter ’89.